Sapphire Stars Progress

Today was such a beautiful day in South Carolina!  Is it still winter? Well yeah, because there is supposed to be at least one more cold blast coming next week. But in the meantime I got to fly!  This afternoon I piloted my trusty taildragger in big circles over the airport doing some landing practice. It's amazing how flying always lifts my mood (literally I guess). I feel more balanced and ready to conquer the world.

At least I am conquering my UFO backlog. This past week I prepped the backing for Big Star County quilt. The Magnolia Mystery quilt is assembled, but there is not enough background fabric left to use as a backing. Oh wait, I just discovered SEVEN yards of turquoise fabric I had set aside after selecting an alternative backing on another quilt. Yes!  Two UFOs will soon go to the longarmer and will be quickly bound and finished.  One more UFO to go then I will let myself start another project. <squealing in delight>

And that one UFO will be Sapphire Stars. This week I cut the final neutral triangles and began assembling the blocks. Today I attached the sashing.  Check this out:

Kevin, you came up with a really fun pattern! The blocks are big which makes it a breeze to ease some of the triangle-angley-issues I tend to have. One of the ladies who made this quilt in time for Kevin's gallery had opted to group the reds and yellows which inspired me to do the same. Next step is to assemble the borders and I can check off a third UFO finish. Oops, gotta find a backing for this one, too.

Little Fox Patch Pal from Quiltmaker magazine of July/August 2014 also came out of the closet.

The borders were sewn on years ago, but I didn't get another picture. After assembling enough leftover batting to use for this little guy and a little touch-up with the iron, he is ready to be sandwiched for free motion quilting. And BAM! another UFO will be done.

Up next will likely be assembly of Grand Illusion and Colorado Sunshine (also known as Floribunda), both of which are Bonnie Hunter designs.  Or maybe 1860's Revival with its zig-zag sashing will come out of hiding.

Hopefully I can keep up the UFO-busting burst of energy. Then maybe I will be able to admit how many UFO projects I really have left.  It's kind of like not wanting to admit my age.  Do you find yourself hesitant to disclose your UFO count?

Also, at what point does a few orphan blocks become a UFO?  Do we count a pile of fabrics set aside for a project?  And is there a statute of limitations?  I have a UFO from 25 years ago that is still folded up waiting for a border fix and longarming; should it count?  Inquiring minds want to know!

Happy 2018

My word for this year is Appreciate. The word Appreciate can mean growth or it could mean being thankful for what you have. Sounds like a great idea!

Blueberry Hill / Jamestown Landing arrived back from my Pennsylvania longarmer right after Christmas. I'm so excited that this 2013 project will finally be done! Anyone who has made this Bonnie Hunter design knows the amount of effort that has gone into it.

So, what are your new year resolutions?  I've been able to accomplish most of my resolutions in years past, so I am continuing the practice.

My quilting goals for this year are to 
(1) cut my UFO list in half (pretty ambitious), 
(2) clean up my sewing room / office, 
(3) enter one quilt and one small project in a quilt show, 
(4) blog at least twice a month, and 
(5) continue building new friendships in my local quilt guilds.

I decided to break down the first resolution into quarterly plans.  Here is my UFO plan for 1Q 2018:

1. Blueberry Hill a/k/a Jamestown Landing - binding in January.
2. Big Star County - longarming in January, binding in February.
3. Meadow Mist Magnolia Mystery - longarming in January, binding in February.
4. In the 'Hood - design how to quilt in January, begin FMQ in February.
5. Grand Illusion - assemble flimsy by March.
6. Colorado Sunshine a/k/a Floribunda - assemble flimsy by April.
7. Red Cross - finish up the FMQ (finally!) in March.


Please encourage me to stick with this plan. I will not let myself begin a new project until at least three of these are completed. Do you know how hard it is to resist all those wonderful projects calling my name??!!

For the second, I've already begun working on my sewing room, but it is still too "ugh" to even show a picture.  

The third resolution will require me to finish binding Blueberry Hill and make a wall hanging to enter in the fall quilt show.

This post helps me achieve the fourth resolution.

Tonight is the weekly quilt guild "bee" and I'm bringing a few items found in my room cleanup to give to my friends.

My personal non-quilting goals for this year are to fly to local airports and explore more, focus on healthy exercise to lose weight and feel better, improve my vegetable garden results, and strengthen friendships within my church family.

Happy New Year!  

P.S. My daughter and her boyfriend were in New York City Times Square with millions of other people last night. Way Cool - literally!

Still Kicking

Hello everyone!  No, I am not retiring my blog. This blog cannot retire before I do (haha) so that means I have to keep it up for about ten more years.

My quilt projects have been progressing. And I was able to work in a few new projects that finished quickly.

---I am still working the clues for Meadow Mist Design's Magnolia mystery quilt.  We finally are assembling the flower blocks. Can't wait for the next clue in early December!

---I am still working on Kevin-the-Quilter's Sapphire Stars mystery quilt. I got stuck cutting the big neutral triangles. Just need four more neutrals to finish those.  I have purchased three different neutral fabrics in the past month, so all is good now. Soon the blocks will start coming together and I can finally catch up to all those fast sewers who have already completed their flimsies.

---I entered my first quilt show!  No ribbon, but I didn't expect to win anything. Several of my friends received awards, though. There are some mighty talented quilters in my guild! The quilt show this weekend was awesome, and I was happy most of the ladies I invited were able to come and check out the beautiful quilts (and mine).

---I have been making pot holders!  Check out these two books by Chris Malone. It has been so fun to sew her cute designs.  If you try some of these, I have a couple tips.  First, read the directions carefully. You may need to layer the pieces in a different order than you think. (My seam ripper has been busy.)  Second, for patterns that will be seamed instead of bound, do not cut the shape until you have stitched it. I trace the pattern on tissue paper, layer the fabrics and battings, then stitch directly on the paper before cutting. 

And.... I took my airplane up for a quick flight before its scheduled annual maintenance. It was nice to get up in the air. I can't wait until flying again!

What have you been working on?

I'm a FabShopHop Winner!

My day just got brighter!  Not only was it a gorgeous, sunny day here in South Carolina, but I also found out I am a FabShopHop winner.

All you have to do is visit a bunch of online quilt supply websites and find the FabShopHop bunny. Check out the program HERE.

Like that Luke Combs song "When It Rains It Pours", Lady Luck is shining on me. Although I didn't have to dump anyone. LOL

Celebrating Life

Hello!  As we all begin the recovery from Hurricane Irma, I thought I would share some good news.

First, we had no damage from the winds and rain.  The winds blew my neighbor's doghouse roof over our fence but it was caught quickly and did not cause any problems other than a small cut on my thumb when I maneuvered the aluminum sheets to the ground.

Second, I finally received a job offer! I've enjoyed having leisure time to sew, swim, shop and sleep these past six months, but I am starting to go stir crazy. It's time to get back to work.

Third, I completed the flimsy for my Jamestown Landing quilt. I began sewing this quilt in 2013. Those string blocks were fun to play with, and I really enjoyed the little broken dishes blocks, too. The piano key border seemed daunting, but it really wasn't bad at all. Dare I say, it was actually fun to sew.  What took forever was assembling all those blocks into rows, then adding each completed row to the growing quilt.  I had to put the quilt away for months at a time as other projects caught my eye. This year I decided it was time to finish the thing.  I only had to sew 11 more little blocks, then put together the border. Yay!

Fourth, I finished the surprise clue for Sapphire Stars, the mystery quilt from Kevin the Quilter. By the way, I keep my quilting project pieces in these clear shoe boxes from Costco. Just tape a little label on the outside and you can figure out which UFO is residing inside.

Some of these are just fabric pieces waiting for cutting and sewing. So they don't count as UFOs in my mind. Okay, three of them are UFOs. I also have a couple more boxes containing En Provence and Grand Illusion which are awaiting assembly. <sigh> I will get working on them.... oooh, so I can clear out the boxes for NEW projects!

What are you working on?

Labels and Block Play

What is your favorite part of quilting?  For me, it's piecing and the search for new quilting patterns is my second favorite.  For others it may be the quilting / longarming aspect or possibly binding. This week I indulged in my next fav - LABELS.  I finally found iron-on printable fabric. Eureka!

I used a Word template which divided a sheet into six labels, then added graphics and text boxes. OMG - this was so much fun!  It was hard to believe I had NINE quilts that were not yet labeled. Well, I remedied that.  I also created a couple labels for quilts that will soon be finished.  The Dritz instruction sheet suggested rounding the corners to help the iron-on resist separating. I trimmed the corners, removed the backing, arranged the label on my quilt, covered with a scrap piece of fabric, then ironed atop a piece of wood (normal ironing board is too padded).  It worked like a charm!

If you have experience using this Dritz product, please comment on its colorfastness and adhesiveness.

Other accomplishments:

• Finally finished cutting fabrics for Kevin's clue #3 for his Sapphire Stars mystery quilt. Now I need to sew the wings on those triangles.
  
• Sewed two test blocks from Bonnie Hunter's Sugar Bowl block instructions. She included pressing directions which helped immensely. I would love to see her add pressing tips for her Floribunda pattern. I'm a bit afraid of what mess I will find when I finally get around to assembling my older and newer Floribunda (aka Colorado Sunshine) blocks. Anyway, these Sugar Bowl blocks were so much fun to make. This gives me a THIRD block design to use up my plaid scraps. The other two are a double pinwheel and Bonnie's Moth in the Window block.
  
• Began FMQ on the Super Star baby quilt. My Machinger gloves got lost during our household move (who knows which box they ended up in) so had to go out and buy new ones. I know better than the FMQ without them!  They really help me keep tension on the top layer and move the quilt around.

What are you working on?

Mystery Quilts Progress

Am I crazy for participating in four and a half mystery quilts all at the same time?  The extra half is my ongoing En Provence mystery quilt of fall 2016 from Bonnie Hunter for which I am still sewing parts and assembling.

1) Alycia Quilts "Big Star Country" - Flimsy is together and ready for longarming if I can find a backing. My sewing machine died in the middle of the assembly, so I had to suffer through Sewing Withdrawal Syndrome (SWS) for a week while it was being repaired. As soon as it came home I finished up this flimsy.

2) Kevin the Quilter - Ready for clue #3 to arrive next week.

3) EvaPaige Quilts "In the 'Hood" - Final reveal came today. I cannot post the final block design until Beth reveals it on August 25th.  Cute blocks!  Update: Beth also shared my pic on Facebook! 

4) Meadow Mist Designs "Magnolia Mystery" - The fabrics I purchased originally just didn't excite me. Instead I found a black print (not the solid shown below) and some leftover blush-colored print to mix with my teals and background white-on-white print. There are lots of others who posted their fabric selection on Facebook which make me second guess my own. But I decided these colors felt right and I went ahead and cut my fabrics.

4.5) En Provence - Lots of quilters have posted their final versions which gave me ideas on how to alter the design slightly to make it my own. Here is a view of how my version is progressing. I am planning on 12 of the large blocks and will put solid pink centers on the stars to make them stand out. Bonnie Hunter designed this quilt and I really like it. But as you know, Bonnie's quilts require a LOT of sewing!

And I assembled a quick baby quilt for a friend. It's quick and easy! I'm planning on a fairly simply FMQ of half-inch spaced lines with an occasional daisy.

What projects or mystery quilts are you sewing?